Weapons Known as Shinobi
by Jenneke88
Summary: Sakura finds out the hard way that her parents aren't her parents, and that Tsunade, the elders and even Kakashi have kept a secret from her. Had Naruto failed to bond with the Kyuubi, she would be his replacement. Now the village that supplies Konoha with their potential jinjuuriki wants her back. Rated M for a reason!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi Guys, this is a reboot form an old story of mine. New storyline and everything. So drop me line on what you think, and criticism welcome, so feel free to say what comes to mind. R&R please. Enjoy!**

**Important: Fanfiction doesn't allow explicit content for whatever reason. In the future, this story will contain explicit content, but not on Fanfiction. I will also publish an uncensored version on "archive of our own". Since past stories of mine do have explicit content, I do not know how long my account will exist on this site. I'll gradually move my stories to AO3, posting under the same name I use here.**

**Summary: Sakura finds out the hard way that her parents aren't her parents, and that Tsunade, the elders and even Kakashi have kept a secret from her. Had Naruto failed to bond with the Kyuubi, she would be his replacement. Now the village that supplies Konoha with their potential jinjuuriki wants her back. Rated M for a reason!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto, other characters and the Naruto world belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I'm just borrowing them to play with ;)**

Chapter 1

Lady Tsunade's office was crowded with ninja from the Hidden Waterfall village. A man with scowl on his face was explaining the situation to the Hokage. Tsunade had dreaded their visit ever since the Elders saw fit to tell her about it. Now, only day after hearing about this, her office was packed with shinobi. This was worse than that time where she had defend her decision on sending Naruto on a mission while the Akatsuki were after him.

"Listen carefully Princess Tsunade," the man said. "We have an agreement, one that dates back to the founding of this village. The Third Hokage guaranteed us, that even given the different circumstance that the girl was delivered to you, we would still get her back once it was certain that the child of Kushina Uzumaki had bonded with the Kyuubi. The boy is sixteen, so I find it safe to say that the boy has successfully bonded with the fox spirit. I didn't want to say this, but you know what will happen if we stop handing you potential jinjuuriki."

Tsunade did know what would happen. If Naruto would live to become an old man the fox would break free and plunge the land back into chaos. She had heard the story of the Fourth Hokage and his wife Kushina Uzumaki. Naruto had only been a few hours old when his parents sacrificed themselves to save the village and seal the fox spirit inside Naruto. A message was send to the Hidden Waterfall village, requesting a back up jinjuuriki. That was Sakura, brought to them only a few weeks old. Normally these kids were eight or nine years old, like Kushina was when she came to the village. Sakura had been the exception, due to the Kyuubi breaking free on the day that Naruto was born.

Normally, a threat such as this would not waver Tsunade's resolve. But they were already on the verge of a war, and she couldn't risk getting into a conflict with the Hidden Waterfall village. Had this been any other village, she would have told them to go home. Tsunade was well past the age where you would base your decisions based on your emotions. The wellbeing of the village came first. "She spend all her life here," Tsunade said, folding her hands in front of her. "You want to take that away from her based on an agreement?"

"Yes," the man answered flatly.

Kakashi had been standing silently in Tsunade's office. Back when his sensei still lived he had heard of this agreement. Once his child was born, another would also be born. When he asked his sensei about that, Minato explained to Kakashi that jinjuuriki needed a special kind of chakra, and only a few clans in the Hidden Waterfall Village had that chakra. He had known this day would eventually come. Perhaps that's why, subconsciously, he'd been distancing himself from Sakura.

"Kakashi," Tsunade said wearily. "Bring Sakura here."

Kakashi nodded and vanished. Even if he had created an emotional distance, what was this feeling?

To say that Sakura was surprised by an early visitor would be an understatement. Here she was, still in her pajamas, looking groggily at a very serious looking copy ninja. He wouldn't tell her what was going on, just that she had to get dressed and that they were going to see the Hokage. Even on the way there, no matter how much she asked, Kakashi wouldn't say. Either it was a surprise form her Shishou, or something was very wrong.

The voices coming from inside the office instantly fell silent when Kakashi knocked on the door. He stepped inside first, and Sakura followed him. She was feeling very anxious about all this, especially since Kakashi wouldn't say why she had to come with him to see Lady Tsunade. Inside, all eyes instantly fell on the pink haired medic, making her want to turn herself invisible.

No one spoke for a while. They mostly just stared at her, like she had some kind of deformity.

"Shishou?" Sakura said, her voice sounding unusually timid.

"You're coming with us."

Sakura turned towards the person who had just said that. She was standing only a few feet away from a rather tall man. He had long black hair, that was tied together in a high ponytail. His dark eyes fixed on her as he waited for her response.

"Why?" Sakura finally asked. "What did I do?"

Tsunade's lips formed a thin line. She knew that Sakura would ask this question. And she knew that even if they explained the situation to her, she still wouldn't go quietly. This was a mess, and she wanted nothing more than to tell Sakura that there was nothing wrong, that she could stay, but for the future of the village, sacrifices had to be made. "As your Hokage," Tsunade said sternly. "I order you to go with these ninja, Sakura. And to serve them until they see fit to release you."

Sakura looked wide-eyed at Tsunade. Her shishou couldn't possible be serious about this. "Shishou." Sakura's voice sounded pleading, and a little scared. Who were these ninja and what did they want from her? What connection did they have to each other? Why was Tsunade ordering her to go with them? All these questions roamed through her mind, and no one seemed willing to answer.

"That is my order," Tsunade finished, her voice sounding monotonous. She didn't want to send her apprentice away. She loved that girl like a daughter, but the village came first. And from what she heard from Kushina, life in the Hidden Waterfall village wasn't half bad.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura looked at her long-time sensei and team leader, but he was merely staring at the ceiling. She wanted him to at least assure her that everything would be okay. To say he would protect her with his life. But he wouldn't even look at her when she said his name.

"A Hokage's orders are to be obeyed without question," He said cooly, not even looking at Sakura. It's not like he didn't want to help her, but the future of village outweighed his need to protect his former student. He, like her, had to accept the Hokage's orders.

Sakura angrily blinked back the tears that were forming. First her shishou and now her sensei. Didn't anyone care what she thought or felt? "Yes... Ma'am," Sakura responded bitterly.

The man who had done all the talking finally gazed fully upon Sakura. The scowl was gone from his face and Sakura finally got a good look at him. At second glance she notice a few grey hairs growing just above the man's ears. On his belt, to her right, was a sword, but not the standard shinobi blade. This one looked similar to Sasuke's sword. Her first guess was this man was samurai, not a shinobi, but given the looks of his escorts, they were definitely shinobi.

"Pack your things," the man ordered. "We leave as soon as you're done."

At first Sakura was dumfounded. She was just supposed to pack up and leave? "What about Naruto?" She had spilled the question before giving it any thought. Naruto would never let this happen quietly. He couldn't lose her, not after failing to bring Sasuke home again and again. "He'd never agree to this."

"Naruto is not in charge of the village," Tsunade said, masking how she really felt. Part of her knew that Naruto would never give her up. He loved her, with all his heart, and she was the most important person in his life.

"I have to say goodbye to him," Sakura pleaded, first to Tsunade and then to the man from the Hidden Waterfall village. "He's my friend."

"Fine," The man said, giving in to this small request. "But I do have one condition."

Sakura's face a mixture of gratitude and surprise. She hadn't thought that they would allow her to say goodbye to her friend. "Name it."

"You will not draw this out longer than necessary," the man said. "Nor will you plea to him to convince the Hokage to change her mind. You will first pack your things, before seeing your friend."

Sakura nodded. She watched as the only female shinobi in the group stepped forward. "I'll help you," she offered, shooting a smile at Sakura that told her that she felt sorry for her. "I'm Kyrie by the way."

Sakura shook Kyrie's hand and told the woman her own first name. She seemed nice enough. A bright smile, short brown hair, a cute button nose and dark brown eyes, giving her a gentle look that didn't suit a shinobi. Sakura instantly liked her.

"Go with them," Tsunade said to Kakashi. Even if they were allies, on paper, she didn't like having foreign ninja wander the village unattended.

Sakura decided that if Kakashi was going to ignore her, she would do the same to him. Instead she wanted to get to know this kunoichi from Waterfall better. "So Kyrie was it?" Sakura asked, but she remembered. It was merely a way to start the conversation. "I'm Sakura Haruno."

"I know," Kyrie said, the gentle smile still on her face. "You look like any other Haruno woman."

"There are more?" Sakura asked. It was now that she got a little clarity of why they wanted her to go to Waterfall. Her family, her relatives were from that village. At first it seemed a little strange. Deep down she had always known that the people she called mom and dad couldn't have been her real parents, since she had none of their characteristics, nor did she look like any of them.

"Of course," Kyrie answered. "What did you think?"

Sakura shrugged. She never really thought about it. "And you? You're from Waterfall."

Kyrie looked up to some clouds passing over. "I'm from a clan too," she revealed. "Kyrie Higurashi. But it's a small clan, not nearly as big as the Haruno's or the Uzumaki's." Kyrie hooked one of her arms into Sakura's, smiling. "Lighten up. I think you'll like Waterfall."

Kakashi had walked only a few steps behind the two women. He had to admit that the woman accompanying Sakura was nice. She reminded him of Rin a little, but also...

"_Please don't kill him," a young girl pleaded, as rain soaked her back and blood soaked her front as she protectively shielded the wounded boy with her tiny frame. She couldn't have been older than twelve years, yet she was a ninja. "He's the only family I have left."_

_Kakashi saw the tears running down the girls cheeks. Whoever this was, he was important to her, and would die soon anyway. He just couldn't bring himself to hack through the girl to deliver the final blow. This boy was dead anyway, laying there in the mud with his throat cut. Kakashi grabbed Genma, hoisting him on back and left the girl alone with her dying family member._

Sakura thought she had heard incorrectly. Did she mention a clan with the name Uzumaki? "Naruto's last name is Uzumaki," Sakura mumbled.

Kyrie looked at Sakura's statement. "That's possible," she said. "We've been exchanging ninja since Hashirama founded this village."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise at Kyrie's knowledge of the Leaf's history. There was no way a mere outsider would know this much. "The Haruno clan and the Uzumaki clan are the most frequent to supplying the ninja."

"But why?" Sakura asked, also looking over her shoulder to find Kakashi completely uninterested in this conversation. Naturally, he was reading his book.

"I'm not allowed to say. Just know that you're special," Kyrie said. "And Ranmaru will tell you everything once we get back."

"Ranmaru?" Sakura asked. She tried to picture the ninja she had seen so far. "That man with the samurai sword?"

Kyrie nodded, but remained silent the rest of the way. Even if Sakura didn't really want to leave the village, this woman was making it a lot less of a bad thing. And now she was curios. She had never known that she was part of a clan.

It didn't take very long to pack any possessions that Sakura wanted to bring. They were mostly clothes and some personal items. She would have to leave all her furniture, since they were too big to bring. "Want to wrap them in plastic?" Kyrie asked.

Sakura looked around and her apartment. Aside from her furniture, it was empty. Anything decorative, was packed in boxes and her clothes were all packed as well. A few tears formed in Sakura eyes seeing her home like this. This was not how she imagined she'd ever leave this place.

"Why not," Sakura said, pulling out some old sheets that she wanted to leave behind.

"Who knows," Kyrie said. "Maybe if you ever come back here."

Sakura and Kyrie covered the furniture, while Kakashi leaned against a wall still holding his book. He wasn't one to drag out goodbyes, but he didn't want to speed things up either. Sure he was sad to see her leave, but it was for the best.

When they were finished with Sakura's apartment, they headed out to find Naruto. Sakura had more people she wanted to see for the last time, but there was no time, she the choice was easy. Naruto would be the one she said goodbye to.

It didn't take them long to find Naruto. Naturally, he was at the Ramen stand, eating. He happily greeted both Sakura and Kakashi. The blonde was just one pile of positive energy. That was something she would sorely miss in Waterfall.

As expected of the blonde knucklehead, he started throwing a tantrum when he heard that Sakura was leaving the village. Sakura had told him it was for a longterm mission and decided not to tell him that they were simply giving her back to the Waterfall village. She knew that if she told him the truth, that he would never let it go so easily.

"And you Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked. "You're okay with Granny sending Sakura away like that. Not knowing how long she'll be gone?"

Kakashi looked up from his book, not really wanting to mingle in this conversation. "It's not my call to make." He felt Sakura's eyes on him, the entire time after Naruto had spoken. He knew what she wanted to hear, but he just couldn't make himself say it. Why make things any worse than they already were. There simply was no point in that. "We're all ninja in service of this village. So when we're told to do something, we do it."

Cold and unrelenting, just like he had been inside Tsunade's office. Sakura turned her attention back to Naruto. "I'll write you, okay?"

Naruto nodded and smiled, but Sakura could tell that it was a fake smile. He didn't want her to go, and he didn't want to be just a pen-pal. But he knew that only one person could keep Sakura here. Naruto's appetite faded when he hugged Sakura goodbye. He felt cold and empty and even a little deserted, sitting here knowing that it would be a very long time until he would see her again.

After that, time seemed to move much faster. Sakura had said her farewells to any friend she met in the street. And luckily Ino was amongst them. She had grabbed her stuff, and loaded the carriage, that the Waterfall shinobi brought, with her more heavier belongings.

At the gate, Tsunade said her goodbyes to Sakura, but Sakura was far to angry with her Shishou to return her kindness. Even when Tsunade gave her a parting gift, Sakura carelessly put the package on the carriage, not opening it, and not even thanking the Hokage for the gift.

Kakashi knew how things went in Waterfall, so when Sakura turned to him to hear what he had to say, he merely handed her a small bag. "You'll need these. Later," he whispered before vanishing behind a cloud of white smoke.

Sakura was used to Kakashi being strange. But this was definitely not what she had expected. She had at least expected him to tell that everything would be okay. That things wouldn't be so bad, but not one word to soothe her conflicting feelings. Looking into the small bag, Sakura saw a pair of fingerless gloves with a steel plate on the back.

The trip to Waterfall was five days long and uneventful. As promised, Ranmaru had told Sakura why it was important that she would go with them. He told her about the special chakra that ran within her family, and even the Uzumaki had this trait. Lastly he explained how this was related to the Kyuubi attack on Konoha sixteen years earlier and why she, as an exception had been send as a baby.

The Hidden Waterfall village got its name from being literally hidden behind a waterfall. To the far left was a path that led behind the waterfall and into a cave. The cave was a wide tunnel that was guarded by four shinobi. The village itself lay in a deep hole in the ground. Trees grew on the sides, letting through some sun, but also giving it a strange glow. It was almost like walking in a forest.

Ranmaru ordered Kyrie to help Sakura settle in. The building in this village weren't very high and the highest apartment building was only four floors high. Sakura was appointed a nice apartment, right inside the part of Waterfall that the inhabitants called Haruno village. Most clans lived is parts of the city that was appointed to their clan. There was one exception, the Higurashi clan lived at random, since they were too small to build an entire neighborhood just for them.

Sakura's apartment was nice. When she entered through the door she was in a long hallways that connected all the room together. To her right was a hall closet where she could also wash her clothes. Next to that the toilet and next to that was the bathroom. On the other side were two door, both opening to a bedroom. In the largest bedroom, there was a large double bed.

"I was assigned to prep this place," Kyrie said walking into the bedroom and letting a finger glide over the bedsheets. "Do you like it?"

Sakura looked at the dark red velvety sheets. The dark wood that made the night stand and closet was exactly what she liked. The floor was a light oaken wood. Sakura went from room to room, curious to see what Kyrie had picked out for her.

The bathroom had a dark grey granite floor, a creamy tiles on the wall. Left from the floor was the shower, then there was a wall separating the sink from the shower and to the back wall was a bathtub.

The living room also housed the kitchen. It was nearly the same style as the bedroom. There was a dark brown L-shaped couch, a coffee table in the same color as the nightstand and a large bookcase.

"I'll leave you to it," Kyrie said when Sakura was unpacked. "Ranmaru wanted me to tell you that your new teamleader will pick you tomorrow at seven am for you first mission."

Sakura thought that getting a mission only a day after moving to this village was a little soon, but she merely nodded at the information. The moment the door closed behind Kyrie did the realization struck her. She was all alone now. No friends she could hang out with, and no Naruto to hit over the head.

Angry with being here, Sakura grabbed the keys to her new apartment and left. She had to clear her head and couldn't do that while cooped up in here.

She wasn't paying much attention to where she was going and very soon, she was lost. There were a fair people out and about, but no one seemed to notice that she didn't belong. Some people even greeted her politely. It had been several hours until she finally saw two women with pink hair like herself. She quickly followed them and tried to catch up. "Hey wait!" she yelled at the pink-haired women. "I need your help."

The women stopped. One had green eyes and the other blue. "Something wrong little one?" The blue-eyed woman asked.

"I'm lost," Sakura said.

The two women exchanged glances. She looked like a relative and she was lost. "You're a Haruno?" The other woman asked finding it strange that someone from this village would get lost.

"I lived in Konoha," Sakura explained, trying not to let the strange looks she was getting bother her.

"Oh, that explains it," the Blue-eyed said. "Well come with us. We'll show you the way."

Seemed this wasn't the first time that someone was given back to Waterfall. The women showed Sakura back to an area that looked familiar. "That's my building," Sakura said pointing at the building closest tot them.

Once inside, Sakura slumped to her couch and laid down. Finally the first tears fell from her eyes as she mourned all that she had lost.

XOXOXO

Naruto had spend the last ten minutes yelling at his new teammate. The newest member of team Kakashi was even worse than Sai. The new girl was nothing like Sakura. She was too busy concerning herself with her hair than she was getting to know her teammates. "If this Kakashi-sensei guy doesn't show up soon," the girl said. "Then I'm going home."

Kakashi knew who his newest member was. A girl named Shirley who was such a pain, that no one else wanted her on their team. Kakashi sighed from his hiding place when Naruto lost his temper at record time and started yelling at the girl. This mission was going to be a disaster, and suddenly he missed Sakura more than he would ever admit to anyone.

XOXOXO

Sakura woke up to loud banging on the door. She opened her eyes realizing that she had fallen asleep on her couch, still dressed in the clothes from the days before. She quickly got up and ran to open the door. She had to look up, with puffy eyes from crying, at the man standing in the hallway. He looked at her face for just a few seconds before speaking in a rough voice. "Oh boy."

**That was first chapter. Hope you guys liked it. Drop me line. Later. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Taken a little break from studying and here's the result. Thank you very much for the reviews, favs and alerts, they mean a lot to me. R&R please. Enjoy.**

Chapter 2

Sakura woke up to loud banging on the door. She opened her eyes realizing that she had fallen asleep on her couch, still dressed in the clothes from the days before. She quickly got up and ran to open the door. She had to look up, with puffy eyes from crying, at the man standing in the hallway. He looked at her face for just a few seconds before speaking in a rough voice. "Oh boy."

It took her a few minutes before finally grasping the fact that it was morning, and that this was likely to be her new team leader. Her eyes roamed over the man as he pinched the bridge of his nose, right after looking her over. She almost thought that he was in some sort of pain, but she guessed that he just looked this way because he was unlucky enough to be stuck with her. Standing in front of her was a man who looked battle hardened. A scar was on his left hand side of his throat, obviously from having someone try to cut his throat, but stopping halfway. His hair was spiky, dark brown with dark brown eyes. His features made him more at home in an aristocratic family, rather than being a shinobi. His form was lean, yet a little bulkier than Sakura was used to with her old teammates.

Before she realized that she was obsessively eying her new team captain, he had already pushed her inside her apartment. He looked her over with wide eyes, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. His hands gripping her shoulders a little harder than comfortable, before releasing her and stepping back. "Get your things," he said with that same rough voice. "We have to be on the road by eight."

Sakura wasn't sure how to react. This man was indeed a little strange. "Uhm," Sakura said, wanting to know who he was and what he wanted from her. She hadn't expected a team leader who looked like he had spent his life on the battlefield. Or even someone who would be on time. "Who are you?"

Kazuya lifted his gaze to stare into her eyes evenly for several seconds, before shifting his gaze elsewhere. "Kazuya Higurashi." he said, not holding out his hand for Sakura to shake. He was too busy looking around the apartment. The style and taste reminded him very clearly of someone. "I see you already met Kyrie."

Sakura nodded and smiled at the fresh memory of the kind brunette. "You know her?"

"She's my sister." Kazuya had already let himself into Sakra's bedroom, opening some bags and pulling out some of her clothes. Sakura blushed a deep red at his rudeness. He was just going through her things and something told her that it would be a bad idea to stop him. "Here," he said, tossing Sakura her red vest, pink medic skirt and black shorts. "Start getting ready, we need to discuss a few things before leaving on the mission... And you still have to meet the others."

"I... uh... still..." Sakura's face turned a darker shade of red. Unable to finish the phrase, yet Kazuya had gotten the message and happily dug around in her bag for some underwear. At first glance, Kazuya seemed very rude, and oblivious to things like privacy.

"Hurry up," Kazuya said, retreating into Sakura's living room.

In record time, Sakura had finished getting ready. And now she was walking next to Kazuya as he directed her through the village. He pointed out a few landmarks to her, which would help her find her way through the village. When nothing else came to mind, he stopped. "Listen up," he said, turning to face her. "I heard your story, and I'm sorry." His look softening in the same way that his sisters features had softened in sympathy. "But I need to know if you'll have my back. I refuse to carry around dead weight."

Sakura nodded. She had sworn to herself long ago that she would never be useless again. All these years since Sasuke left the Hidden Leaf Village, she had trained. Her sole goal had been to get him back home, but that home had now cast her out. And she wondered if maybe it had been for nothing. Even with all the training she had endured, she was still just a chuunin.

Kazuya led the way to the entrance of the village. He waved at the two young shinobi sitting on the grass. Sakura instantly understood that they were her new teammates. The one on the right was girl with long dark purple hair and bright blue eyes. She was a little taller than Sakura and her curves reminded Sakura of Ino for some reason. The other member was a boy, he was tall and very thin. His hair sleek and dark, sticking to his a head little. His dark brown eyes roamed over Sakura, before looking away and blushing.

"Hey guys," Kazuya greeted, but the roughness of his voice made it sound like he wasn't very happy to see them.

"It's not like you to be late Kazuya-sensei," The purple haired girl remarked. Her voice sounded sugary sweet. By the look and sound of her, you would never guess that she was ninja. She looked past Kazuya at Sakura and smiled. It was a strange sensation to Sakura to feel so welcome with a new team. The girl brushed past Kazuya and trapped Sakura in a big bear hug. "Welcome to the team!"

"Sakura meet Lucy Yang," Kazuya said calmly. "Our poison specialist."

"Hi," Sakura said, still trapped in the tight hug from Lucy.

"That's Akira Mushi," Kazuya continued as he pointed towards the boy. "Our fastest runner and weapon specialist."

Akira nodded as Sakura looked at him. He was far more serious than Lucy. In a way, Lucy seemed like the girl variation of Naruto and Akira seemed a little like Sai. She knew now that things wouldn't be too bad.

"Now about our mission," Kazuya started. "We'll be heading to Hutjes town. Seems they've been having trouble with a group of bandits, likely shinobi. They've been entering the town several nights per month to rape, pillage and plunder. We've been issued a termination order. So our job is very simple. Seek them out, and kill them all. This is still an A-ranked mission, so no funny business."

As Kazuya spoke those last words, he looked particularly in Lucy's direction. Seems she wasn't the serious type, but anyone could tell that just by looking at her. Sakura felt an unpleasant knot form in her stomach. They were being send on an A-ranked mission, when she was still just a chuunin. It wouldn't be her first time, but being with a new team changed things a little.

"Uhm Kazuya," Sakura said timidly. She worried her lower lip between her teeth when he looked at her. "I'm only a chuunin."

"Doesn't matter. The three of us are all jounin. You'll be fine."

Sakura could hardly believe her ears. That Kazuya was a jounin seemed logical, but those two had to be around her age, and they were already jounin. In a way Sakura felt disappointed. Kakashi was the famous copy ninja, yet none of his team was a jounin, except for himself. Looking around it made sense, they were all wearing the standard issue jounin uniform. Black shirt, black pants and a dark green flak vest.

As if Kazuya saw the disappointment in her eyes, he smiled. "Don't worry. One year under my tutelage and I guarantee you that you'll be a jounin."

XOXOXO

Kakashi was cursing his bad luck. Here he was in the middle of a forest with two bickering teammates and one emotionless Root member. Just their constant arguing was getting on his nerves. What were they? Twelve? It was like training genin all over again, except that the two bickering ninja were both genin. Wearily, Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to will out the sound of their bickering, until he was sick of it. "Shirley," he said menacingly. "There is a reason why someone your age is still a genin."

Shirley fell silent, at last. She placed her hands on her hips defensively. "And what would that be?"

"No one wants to work with you," Kakashi said. "You're annoying and simply a spoiled brat. How you ever made genin is a mystery to me, because I would've never signed off on a person like you."

Shirley opened her mouth a couple of times to speak, but the first few times, no sound came out. "My dad."

"Obviously made a generous donation to the elders," Kakashi interrupted. "And that's why you're a ninja. But I'm telling you now, that without a major attitude change, you're going to get yourself killed."

The newest member of team Kakashi didn't seem to take Kakashi's warning seriously. Telling her that she had to buy her way into being a shinobi was a lie. She had the skill, it wasn't her fault that no one saw her true potential. But she had heard of Kakashi, the copy ninja. At first she had squealed in delight of being placed on the same team as such a famous ninja. Now she cursed her luck for being on the same team as him. She'd show him that she was deserving of the title shinobi.

XOXOXO

"Get out," Sasuke growled at Karin, who had disturbed him for the third time that day. He needed to concentrate on these scrolls. Somewhere in these scrolls there was an answer to how he could guarantee the continuation of his kekkei genkai.

Karin huffed as she sat down next to Jugo. The irritation of being rejected by Sasuke again was written on her face. "What does he think he'll find in those scrolls."

Jugo shrugged. "He's looking into the best way to rebuild his clan," he said calmly. His eyes shifted to the sunny weather outside. He wanted nothing more than to stand in the sunlight feeding some birds, but Sasuke had told them to stay put until he was finished. "He heard something that when he's not marrying some distant Uchiha cousin, he needs a certain type of chakra."

"Why didn't he tell me!?" Karin jumped out of her seat. She paced around in front of Jugo and Suigetsu. Suddenly she stopped, as she remembered some of the research she conducted for Orochimaru.

"Because he doesn't want you to know." Suigetsu teased, while polishing his blade.

"If he's looking for that kind of chakra," Karin said. "He just needs to look into two clans." Karin looked at Jugo, who looked back at her. It was obvious that Karin knew more about genetics than any of them. "The Uzumaki and the Haruno."

Without any of them noticing, Sasuke stood there, in the doorway, having heard it all. In his mind he cursed himself. He vividly remembered knowing a Haruno, who had offered herself to him. Now he had to come up with a way to kill Itachi and a way to win back Sakura. First he would get his revenge, then he would concentrate on restoring his clan. "So you're saying that Sakura Haruno has the type of chakra I'm looking for?"

Karin nodded, but she was also disappointed. Whatever chance she had with Sasuke, it was dead now. He was only interested in revenge and restoring his clan. He didn't want her love, or her admiration. She was a tool, nothing more.

"You're sure about this?"

"Of course I am," Karin huffed. "The ninja from the Hidden Waterfall village have been using those two clans to strengthen their kekkei genkai since the founding of the ninja villages."

"So there are more," Sasuke contemplated. "What other criteria do I need to look for?"

Karin didn't dare to lie to Sasuke. "The chakra needs to have developed, it needs to have matured beyond a certain point. Like yours did to enable you to use your sharingan. The odds improve when someone can use complicated ninjutsu. That's a clear sign that someone's chakra has developed to the desired state."

"Like medical ninjutsu?"

Karin nodded. "Or using more than one element. The Haruno's are famous for their chakra control," Karin explained, keeping her emotions out of her voice. "There's also some research indicating that chakra either needs to compliment your own element, or be it's opposite."

"So with my fire style," Sasuke said calmly, looking directly into Karin's eyes. "I need either someone with water style or wind style."

"Yes." Karin walked up to Sasuke, taking off her glasses, and cleaning them. "But wouldn't you rather have children with a woman who loves you? Or an Uzumaki you already know?" She spoke so softly, that she wondered if he had heard her. He stared at her evenly, before smirking.

"Sakura already loves me." Sasuke brushed past Karin. He looked over his shoulder at his followers. "We've got work to do. Let's go."

XOXOXO

It was long past noon when Sakura and her new team arrived at the village being plagued by bandits. The streets were empty, almost like a ghost town, but she knew better. They were obviously hiding. It was the first time that Sakura had to track down and kill a target. She swallowed almost audibly, when the thought hit her, that there was a reason why a team of jounin had been send on this mission.

Kazuya formed a series of hand signs and pressed his palm to the ground. "Summoning jutsu."

Four, abnormally large, white wolves appeared. Obviously they were splitting up, each would have one wolf to sniff out the bandits. "We're splitting up." Kazuya said, assigning each wolf to one of his teammates. "We'll meet back here in an hour. Don't engage them. They probably have a considerable amount of manpower. We don't want to get pummeled by some lowlifes. Headbands off. They don't need to know where we're from."

Sakura followed her wolf to west side of the small town. She wasn't sure this would qualify as teamwork, but this mission was probably a piece of cake to the others. How was she even going to catch up with their level of expertise. Sure Kazuya had to be some hotshot sensei to get them at jounin level at their age, but couldn't they just have a natural aptitude for being a shinobi, like Neji Hyuuga?

"Well look what we have here."

Sakura was so caught up in thought that she hadn't noticed that the wolf had growled, or even that there were six men, who looked like shinobi, standing right in front of her. Without noticing, she had wandered into the woods. Her eyes went wide, and she could tell that even if she did put up a fight, this was a losing battle.

"Isn't she a pretty one."

Sakura dropped her pack to the ground and raised her fists. Her eyes narrowed at the second one who had spoken.

One of the others started laughing. "Looks like we have a wild one here boys."

"Come over here and I'll show you just how wild I am," Sakura spat.

In a moment, they vanished and Sakura instantly punched the ground to make sure they weren't hiding there. "Go get help," Sakura whispered to the wolf.

She hadn't even seen it, but a knife was plunged into her right side, making her cry out in surprise and pain. Next thing she knew, she was losing consciousness, as someone had hit her in the back of her head.

XOXOXO

Kakashi sighed as he had just saved his new teammate for the third time. They were only on a c-ranked mission, yet even robbers and highwaymen were too much for her. Tsunade had to be punishing him for always being late. That was the only explanation he could think off. Why else place this particular person on his team.

"Are you blind?!" Naruto yelled the question at the girl. "You don't just throw a kunai at your teammate."

"I was trying to hit that other guy," Shirley said.

"Then you need to work on your aim!"

"Keep it down," Kakashi said, looking sideways at their client. This guy wasn't taking them serious anymore. He was obviously getting fed up with the constant bickering of those two. He was running out of ideas to keep this girl occupied. "And Shirley. I want you to guard this."

Kakashi handed Shirley a sheet of paper. It was blank on both sides and Shirley stared at it from multiple direction before speaking. "There's nothing on here to guard."

"Sounds like an excellent assignment to me," Kakashi said, creasing his eye and ushering all of them to follow him.

XOXOXO

Sakura woke up, feeling sick. Her head was pounding and her hands were bound to a tree. She tried to get a glimpse of the sky, but the trees prevented her from getting a clear view. In front of her gathered in a circle were the men who had caught her, only two of them were gone. She noticed others had joined them and they were laughing over something. Looking around, they were somewhere deep in the forest. A large wooden house caught Sakura's eye. Seems they weren't just passing through.

The wind picked up, but it didn't feel natural. The rustling of trees made Sakura feel uneasy. Something was wrong. A soft hand was placed over Sakura's mouth, but she recognized the blur of purple, making her relax.

A smoke bomb went off, just outside the camp. Sakura felt her hands fall from the tree, but the searing pain in her head and right side made her unable to leave the spot she was sitting in. Her clothes felt damp to her right side and as she looked down, she realized just how much blood she had lost. A lightheaded feeling was taking over, trying to draw her back into unconsciousness.

Screams filled the air, but Sakura couldn't see who it was. The smoke clouded her vision, and her blood loss was making it hard to concentrate on anything else. She heard a voice speaking comforting words to her, yet she couldn't tell exactly who it was, or what they were saying. With great effort, Sakura tried to concentrate on the person closest to her. She was smiling gently, and pressing her hand on Sakura's wound.

It took Sakura all the concentration she had in her to make her palm glow green with healing chakra and pressing it over the hand covering her injury. The pain there dulled, and the bleeding stopped. Unable to keep sitting up, Sakura slumped against the girl next to her.

The screams faded, except for several men shouting. Kazuya wiped the sweat from his brow as he took a few seconds to get his bearings. Only a few remained and he was determined to hunt them down to the last man. Akira softly landed on the ground next to Kazuya. They took off towards the last survivors.

The remaining bandits were easily caught up with and disposed off. Having posed no challenge for the shinobi, Akira and Kazuya returned to Lucy and Sakura. "She alive?" Kazuya asked taking in Sakura's unconscious form.

Lucy nodded. "She lost a lot of blood." Lucy rummaged around in Sakura's pack, pulling out some bandages. "Did you know she's a medic?"

Kazuya shook his head. He had expected it, given her lineage, but he hadn't known for sure. "She stopped the bleeding then?"

"Yeah," Lucy answered, as she peeled away the clothes over Sakura's wound. "But it's still tender. I'm going to bandage it, just in case."

"Those smoke bombs of yours really did the trick," Kazuya said flatly. "What's in them anyway?"

"Pepper." Lucy didn't look up to see the look on her sensei's face. She knew he'd say she was crazy, then again, you had to be crazy or very stupid to chose ninja life. Carefully, Lucy lay a thick pad on the wound and started putting bandages over it. "That should keep it covered till she wakes up."

By the time that Sakura finally woke up, the sun was already setting. Looking around, she saw her new team leader tend to the campfire. She couldn't find the other two, but she didn't care. She was comfy and warm and not alone. Her eyes went wide she watched Kazuya tend to his own injury. She vaguely remembered him taking a hit from an off course kunai that was heading her way.

"Need help?" Sakura croaked.

Kazuya looked her way. "Heal yourself first," he said.

XOXOXO

Kakashi stood in front of the hokage as she read his rapport on the last mission. The scowl on her face told him she did not appreciate his comments on the newest member of team Kakashi. Somewhere in the dark recesses of his mind did the idea form to write about his irritations with the girl. There was no way he could stand going on another mission with that girl. In his report he wrote about the lack of skill that the girl had, the constant bickering with Naruto and her inability to follow orders. He silently hoped that Tsunade would reconsider making this girl Sakura's replacement.

With a long sigh, Tsunade put the report down. She folded her recently manicured fingers in front of her face and looked at Kakashi evenly for several silent minutes. Her mouth opened several times as if she wanted to speak, before closing again. She was thinking of a way to put what she was going to say in a kind and gentle way, but she was unable to come up with the words. There had to be some kind of handbook that explained how to say _deal with it_ delicately. "That bad, huh?" Tsunade asked after a long consideration on how to start this conversation.

Kakashi nodded, his eye becoming more droopy than usual and his slouch became worse to show that he wasn't exaggerating in his report. "I have never met anyone more clueless than that girl."

Tsunade nodded. She had heard the stories about this girl. How she failed every class in the academy and still made genin. Obviously her parents were rich, otherwise no one would've agreed to make her a ninja. The elders had arranged this behind Tsunade's back, and now she had to pick up the pieces, as if she was their cleaning lady. "You need a fourth member," Tsunade said delicately.

Kakashi shook his head. "This _member_ is like hauling around 120 pounds of dead weight." Kakashi wasn't the sort of man to just give up, but he knew a hopeless case when he saw one. This girl was the textbook example of a lost cause.

Tsunade started at the papers on her desk, while her hands rubbed her temples. "You miss her too?" She asked out of the blue. Her eyes were sad, and she could hardly believe that it had been only a few days since she send Sakura away with the Waterfall shinobi.

Kakashi remained silent. When he thought about the mission, then yes he missed Sakura. But to say that he missed her during his leisure time would be a bit too much. Sure she sought him out from time to time to ask his advise, but those were just brief encounters between sensei and student. Even if she was no longer a genin, she had always valued his opinion. "What are the odds that Waterfall will send her back to us?" Kakashi asked in a neutral voice.

"Nonexistent," Tsunade returned. "The Uzumaki and the Haruno are the two clans that make Waterfall a valuable ally. They won't give us a member for free."

Tsunade turned her chair around so she was facing the window instead of facing Kakashi. "I can't replace Shirley. You'll have to deal with her and her attitude yourself. Dismissed."

Kakashi nodded and wordlessly left the office. Seemed that he was stuck with her and he silently wished for a miracle, even if he didn't believe in miracles.

As the door to her office shut with a soft metallic tick, Tsunade finally let the emotions she'd been keeping in surface. The tears left a wet trail on her cheek as she allowed herself to miss her apprentice. The village came first, but right now she regretted that chain of thought. "Sakura," Tsunade whispered the name. "I'm so sorry."

XOXOXO

Sakura wordlessly followed her teammates as the entered the village. She felt dirty, tired and ashamed. Like when she was genin, she had been utterly useless and he team captain had to swoop in and save her, much like Kakashi had done many times before.

Sakura almost bumped into Lucy when the team members came to a stop. "You," Kazuya said, pointing at Sakura. "Come with me. And you two look for a place to eat. We'll meet you there."

"A place to eat?" Sakura quietly asked Lucy.

Lucy nodded. "Kazuya always treats us to dinner when we successfully complete a mission," she explained. "It's his way to reward our teamwork and hard work."

"All I did was get caught and faint," Sakura said. "Does that count?"

"We're not shutting you out," Kazuya said. "But I do need to have a word with Ranmaru."

Sakura nodded, fully understanding that he had some complaints about her. She had made a fool of herself. Instead of keeping her mind on the mission, she had given into her daydreaming and almost screwed up the entire mission.

Both didn't say a word as they walked toward the highest building in Waterfall. Sakura wondered what he was thinking, and if he was willing to share his thoughts. Her image of her new captain wasn't a good one. He was antisocial, and sometimes even mean. What kind of person would get it into their head to place her on a team like this?

Outside the office of Ranmaru, Kazuya told Sakura to wait outside, meaning that what he was to say would probably hurt her feelings. Sakura didn't say anything and nodded in response while taking a seat on one of the chairs that stood in the hallway outside Ranmaru's office.

Kazuya knocked, but didn't wait for a _come in_ before entering.

Ranmaru looked up from his desk and instantly felt something wasn't as Kazuya had wanted. "You're late," Ranmaru said calmly. "How'd it go?"

"The mission?" Kazuya asked. "Or how did she do?"

"Both."

Kazuya took a seat opposite of Ranmaru. He folded his arms over his chest and looked at his sensei with a very serious look on his face. "The mission was a success." Beginning with the positive would probably help hi to sugarcoat what he was about to say.

Ranmaru nodded. "Good. I'll send them a bill." Ranmaru scribbled down something on a piece of paper, before looking back at his pupil. "And?"

Kazuya leaned forward in his chair. "She was useless."

Ranmaru continued to scribble. "Elaborate please."

"She got stabbed, caught and we had to save her."

Putting down his pen en sitting back, Ranmaru took a few minutes to think. "What would you have me do?"

"Have her pack her bags and send her home."

"You know we can't do that."

"I have never met a member of the Haruno-clan that is so utterly..." Kazuya looked at his sensei and decided to rephrase. "She needs training."

Ranmaru nodded.

"But you've filled up my schedule with mission," Kazuya continued. "I don't have time for that for at least the next three months."

"How about," Ranmaru said, folding his hands on the desk. "If I train her while you go on those missions. And then I'll clear your schedule for the three months after that. And you can take over her training then?"

Kazuya nodded. "Alright." He got up and walked to the door. He stopped as his hand rested on the metal of the doorknob. "Why her? And why on my team?"

Ranmaru looked up. "You needed a new member and she needed a team."

"Hn," Kazuya responded, turning the doorknob.

"Send her in please."

Kazuya stepped outside and gestured that Sakura had to go inside. She swallowed as she strepped through the oak door and looked at a pleasantly smiling Ranmaru.

"Have a seat," Ranmaru said.

Sakura did as she was told, but she wasn't very relaxed.

Kazuya told me..."

"I was useless," Sakura interrupted, her voice taking on a high pitch.

Ranmaru raised a hand to silence her. "You've been caught in thought?"

Sakura nodded. "I want to go home."

Ranmaru nodded. "I understand," he said. "So I want to propose a deal."

Sakura moved to the edge of the chair. Whatever deal he had in mind, she would take it if it meant going home. "Name it."

"You were a shinobi for the Leaf for four years," Ranmaru said. "Now I propose that you spend four years as a Waterfall shinobi. And when those four years are up, you may decide where your heart truly lies."

Sakura nodded, a smile forming on her face, before fading again. "But Kazuya..."

"He and I have agreed that I will supervise your training until he has time to train you himself."

Sakura sat back in the chair, feeling a lot of tension leave her body. She wanted to become stronger, so she wouldn't be useless anymore. And now she had hope, that one day, she could walk through the gates of Konoha again as one of their shinobi.

**Well, I have to get back to studying. Thank you for reading. Please drop me a line.**


End file.
